october is great



i don't know why kids get summer off when everyone knows that autumn is the best season of all. and nothing beats october on the coast of california. it was an unbelievable day, so kb and i hit the beach. a beach that i grew up calling "A. Beach" (short for Atascadero State Beach) but that officially became "Morro Strand" years and years ago.



it was H.O.T. (eighty? eighty plus?) in a town that normally doesn't have the drive to reach beyond a cool 68. the santa anas (that are growing fires in southern california) are the surfers' jackpot and all three surfspots along this stretch were appropriately dotted with their black sillouhettes, awaiting their turn at the windswept swells.

i had called kb earlier in the morning: let's go for a walk on the beach, but felt a little guilty half-way into it because it is a solid four miles. i don't think it was the length of the walk, or even trudging through the sand that made us tired, but the sun and the wind. the waves came in and lapped our feet cool.



it was a real day for birds. mostly the tallish brown-dotted waders with the long beaks (what are they?). but all birds were taking advantage of the wind and doing perfect impressions of kites, cupping their wings and allowing the wind to sweep them up and to the side.



the labs were there to play, but these two little chihuahuas didn't want anything to do with the big looming ocean. click the pictures to see more of the scenery — i cropped 'em close so you could see the dogs, but the bigger versions show you a little of the surroundings.